Teens from Norwell awarded $100K scholarships on TV

They have given troops more than 450,000 chances to call home, and now the Norwell teens responsible for Cell Phones for Soldiers are being given an opportunity of their own.

Brittany and Robbie Bergquist were awarded two $100,000 scholarships to the colleges of their choice during an appearance on ABC's “The View” Monday morning.

The scholarships were given by AT&T to reward the teens for their work with Cell Phones for Soldiers, which provides calling cards to soldiers overseas.

The Bergquists recently won Microsoft's Above and Beyond Youth Leadership Award for their organization, through which they also established more than 6,000 cell phone drop-off sites throughout the world. Cell Phones for Soldiers is paid for each donated phone – enough for an hour of talk time to soldiers abroad.

The scholarship money comes just as Brittany, 16, and Robbie, 15, are starting to consider which colleges they would like to attend, said their father, Robert Bergquist.

“We are all absolutely floating,” said Bergquist, who was in the audience but did not know the children were going to receive the money.

He said that while his children are thrilled about the scholarships, the gift was also bittersweet.

“There was also a sadness to it because we felt like the soldiers should be getting that money,” Bergquist said.

Seth Bloom, a spokesman for AT&T, said there was no doubt in his mind that the siblings deserve the scholarships.

“We are so impressed with their vision and wanted to reward that,” said Bloom. “And what better way to do that than to make a contribution to their education?”

AT&T also donated 500,000 calling cards to the organization and designated its 1,800 stores nationwide as collection centers.

For more information on the siblings' project, visit cellphonesforsoldiers.com.